Prelude to War
by Maddog3060
Summary: A shortshort story showing how the Imperial Guard gets amped up to fight.


Just a short I wrote 'cuz I love the Rage and Righteousness of the Imperium. ;)

FOR THE EMPEROR!

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Explosions blanketed the area, as missiles and shells rained in from the enemy lines. Massive fountains of dirt rose up from the impacts, only to cascade down again when gravity exerted its inevitable pull.

Several clumps of dark, muddy earth fell on top of general Yory Farakin, yet he ignored them. Instead, he squinted out over the expanse of the no-man's-land that separated the two opposing forces.

"Seems the greenskins managed to loot some of our tanks," a man next to the general muttered. "Again." At that, the man – Farakin's aide, Captain Malenko – sighed. "It's bad enough that we have to fight those animals, but we also have to fight the works of the Adeptus Mechanicus as well."

"Look on the bright side, Lak," Farakin replied, though he continued to stare across the wastes. "That means they won't have any of their own, super-heavy stuff with them."

"Aye, but it also means we'll have to destroy some material that was once blessed by the priests," Malenko countered, and then shook his head. "It's a damn shame, when the Emperor's weapons must fight each other."

"Amen," Farakin answered. Then he turned around and looked past Malenko, and he saw the line of his forward-most troops stretching out, almost to the horizon. "May He watch over us this day."

"His will be done," Malenko replied. Then a low rumbling could be head from behind them, and he shook his head. "The Basilisks have started firing a bit early, sir."

Farakin shrugged a bit. "Only by two minutes, Lak, so it is of no matter," he said. He then turned to gesture towards one of the men in his command squad, which had, save for Malenko, waited several meters away. Now, though, the guardsman who carried a Vox-caster sprinted over, and he bowed his head slightly. "You need service, general?"

"Indeed," Farakin answered, his voice sharp now that he was dealing with the rank and file. "Open a channel to all commands, and then hand me your pickup."

"Yes sir," the guardsman replied, and then went to work, calling up every Vox-caster in the upper tier of the communications hierarchy, having them prepare to broadcast the general's message aloud as well as to transfer it down to the next level of Vox-casters, where their actions would be repeated over and over, until the entire regiment could hear Farakin's voice.

It was a credit to the skill of the communications men that it only took a few moments for the process to be completed, and the guardsman turned and bowed his head again to Farakin. "It is done, sir," he said, and then handed over the microphone pickup that he had been speaking into.

"Thank you, Dalier," Farakin said, gracing the man with a faint smile. Then his face turned hard again, and he grabbed the microphone and held it up to his lips. After a moment to catch his breath and gather his words, he began to speak. "Comrades, men and women of the 5th Floridana Division. This is your commander, General Yory Farakin, speaking.

"By now, you can already hear the thunder of our artillery regiment as they unleash the first wave of the Emperor's wrath upon the alien menace that threatens our world. You should all know by now, that this is the beginning of our assault, of our reclamation of the land from the vile beasts.

"We have been through a lot, comrades. Ten long years we have fought the enemy, and for ten long years we have held the line, waiting for our sister regiments to heed the calls and return home.

"That day is today. By now, the First, Third, and Fourth Divisions are already in-system, and their ships are even now entering orbit. Though they have suffered at the hands of the Great Enemy and his Black Crusade, they retain their honor, and their courage, just as you have, in the face of the Beast.

"Comrades, soldiers of the Imperium, servants of the Emperor, today shall be our finest. To facilitate the landing of so many troops, we must have the largest, most securable landing zone that has even been captured by an Imperial Guard force since the beginning of the last millennium. In order for our brothers to land unmolested, we must seize the Tallahassee Plain, so that their great armored units may be able to deploy without effort, and also for the Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus to march out and meet the Orks with unbridled power.

"This is our mission, this is our purpose here today. We must take these fields, cleanse them of the xeno, and make way for our brothers and sisters as they return from the stars. Today, we live up to the nickname of the Imperial Guard, and we shall indeed become the Hammer of the Emperor; the hammer that shall shatter these foul creatures and return our world to peace and prosperity.

"Yet, we do not do this alone. Those of you on the flanks, take care and watch for the avenging angles of the Space Marines. The Space Wolves have honored us with the presence of one of their companies, and they will be striking the flanks of the enemy to sow discord and panic."

Farakin paused then, to gather breath, and then continued. "Soldiers of the 5th Floridana, you have seen the worst trials any Imperial citizen should have to see, yet you have come through such trials with skill and determination. I know this, because I have been with you, fighting the same battles, suffering the same depredations, and mourning the same losses. Yet, as I look upon you now, I see not the kind of defeated, harrowed force that one would expect from a decade of war, but rather, I see the most determined, fiercest, and blessed force to ever exist outside of the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes. When I look upon you, I know, without any doubt or uncertainty, that we shall accomplish our mission today. Not because the enemy is weak, but because we are strong, stronger than any alien force, stronger than any Chaos Lord. We are the Imperial Guard, and we shall never know defeat so long as the Emperor gives us his blessing!"

"Comrades! Men and women of Floridana! Defenders of the Imperium, the Emperor _has_ given His blessing this day! The seeds of the Emperor's vision have borne fruit, and thanks to His will, to His glorious gifts, we have stood where no other Imperial regiment – not the Ork-dreaded Steel Legions, nor the illustrious Cadian Shock Troops – could ever have hoped to stand! Today, we shall give over our lives to His great plan, and with faith and courage, we shall win through, no matter the cost!"

Again, Farakin paused for breath, but the pause drew out as he heard a noise rise up, higher than even the incoming shriek of missiles, or the rumbling bass of earthshaker cannons. From one end of the lines to the other, a great cheer erupted, rising higher and higher as more men joined in, until the very ground felt as if it were shaking under the sound of tens of thousands of voices.

Farakin blinked at that, and he quickly began to speak into the Vox-caster again. "Men! Citizens of the Imperium! I hear you! But more importantly, _they_ hear you!" He yelled out, and pointed towards the Ork lines for the benefit of those soldiers who could see him, and he grinned as the incoming fire from the aliens dropped down significantly. "They hear not the moans of the broken, but the fury of the righteous! They know, deep within their filthy, godless, animal minds, that death stalks them! We, the Hammer of the Emperor, the Fist of God, and the soul of the Imperium, shall not stop until every last one of their stinking, worthless race lies burning and disemboweled on the field of battle! The aliens shall die, and with their deaths, we shall rise into the annals of history as the greatest force to ever smite the enemies of the Emperor!

"Comrades! My brothers in arms, the time of our primacy is now!" Farakin continued, his face twisting into a snarl as he glanced into the sky and saw the reentry trails of the Space Marines and advance Imperial Guard forces. "The hour has come, and the order now given: Advance! Charge the enemy and destroy them! Burn the heretic! Kill the xeno! Purge the unclean! Send them to the fiery depths of Hell, and leave nothing alive that is not human!

"Go forth, and know that the Emperor smiles upon you this day! In His name, we fight! In His service, we die! In His plan, our victory!"

Again, the cheer went up, though this time it was a bit muted and shortened, as the first ranks of men either clambered up and out of their trenches, or as their voices were drowned out by the rumbling of hundreds and hundreds of engines, as the armored contingents in the division started rolling out. Farakin felt like laughing in sadistic glee as he saw the first shots fired from the long-ranged Vanquisher-pattern Leman Russ tanks began to join in with the barrage of artillery fire from the Basilisks in the rear, but he forced such emotions aside, and instead simply handed the vox-caster pickup back to Dalier. "Head for the Chimera, trooper, and load up," the general said.

"Yes sir!" The younger man replied, saluting the commanding officer briefly before he spun about and then ran for the armed APC that stood nearby for the personal use of the General. Farakin watching him rejoin the command squad, and then turned to give a look at his friend and confidant. "Ready to go, Lak?"

"Your wish is my command, sir," the captain replied, drawing himself up into a salute. Farakin smiled and then returned the gesture, pleased that his usually lax aide was again becoming the man he knew as one of the best soldiers on the planet. "Good. Then let us be on our way," the general said, and then turned to head off for the non-descript Chimera as the screams of aircraft and ships filled the sky, timing their attack runs to blast the front ranks of the Orks as the first guardsmen began to close into firing distance. "We have much to do before the day is won," Farakin added, and then looked over the field of battle as the two armies began to exchange shots in earnest. "Much to do before the Emperor grants us His victory."

"His will be done."


End file.
